The Cake Eaters - Bruce and Elizabeth
Sedona, AZ: "The Cake Eaters," Mary Stuart Masterson's directorial debut, will be featured at the September installment of the popular Second Tuesday Cinema Series. It is the feature presentation at 7 p.m., Sept. 11 at the Harkins Sedona Six Theatres.
Presented by the Sedona International Film Festival and Workshop, the screening marks the exclusive Arizona premiere of the film. "The Cake Eaters" is a romantic drama set in a small town where the intimate secrets and tensions of two families force them to come to terms with life, love and death. The dynamic ensemble cast includes Bruce Dern, Elizabeth Ashley, Jayce Bartok, Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford and Jesse L Martin.
> Mary Stuart directing Bruce
"This film played to raves reviews when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this past spring," says Patrick Schweiss, executive director. "Mary Stuart is a big fan of our film festival, so she was pleased to give us the Arizona premiere."
Living in rural America, the Kimbrough family is a normally odd bunch; Easy (Dern), the patriarch, owns a butcher shop and finds himself grieving over the loss of his wife, Ceci, while hiding a secret ongoing relationship for years. Beagle (Stanford), his youngest son who was left to care for his ailing mother, works in the local high school cafeteria by day but has a burning passion inside that manifests itself through painting street signs. The eldest son, Guy (Bartok), has been away from the family for years while pursuing his musical aspirations in the big city until the day he learns of his mother's passing and that he's missed the funeral.
Upon Guy's return home, the complex nature of each character unravels. Beagle's pent up emotions connect with Georgia Kaminski (Stewart), a terminally ill teenage girl wanting to experience love before it's too late. Easy's long-time affair with Marg (Ashley), Georgia's eccentric grandmother, is exposed to the Kimbrough family. Guy discovers that, in his absence, his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, has moved on and started a family of her own.
Through it all, The Kimbroughs and Kaminski's manage to establish a new beginning in the face of their greatest fears; truthfulness, intimacy, the afterlife, and family.
"When I was on the phone with Bruce Dern for the first time as he was agreeing to play the role of Easy, he said to me, ‘Masterson, don't be afraid of the word ‘sweet' when you make this movie.' He was 100% right," said director Mary Stuart Masterson.
